The instant invention stems from uncovering a longstanding problem within the thoroughbred racing industry. Each year a little over thirty thousand horses are born and registered with the Thoroughbred Racing Association. Of those horses, less than ten percent actually make it to a racetrack to run in a horse race for a purse. Many of these hoses never race because of injuries sustained during the process of training the horse to race.
In racing, a foal's officially registered birthday is January 1st regardless of the date during the year which the foal is actually born. A horse which is less than a year old is called a weanling. A yearling is a horse one year old, dating from January 1 of the year after foaling. Typically, horses are trained for riding as yearlings and usually begin training for racing as two year olds. Horses typically begin to race competitively late in their second year. Many of these horses are seriously injured within these first few years, are unable to race again, and have to be retired or sold.
A typical horse doesn't finish growing until it is about five years old. In the racing industry a horse's third year is critical. A horse may be entered in the Triple Crown races (i.e. The Kentucky Derby, The Preakness Stakes, and The Belmont Stakes) as a three year old colt, gelding (male horses), or filly. The Kentucky Derby is raced on the first Saturday in May and the Preakness is two weeks later. The Belmont Stakes is three weeks after the Preakness. No horse has won the Triple Crown since 1978. Recently a few horses have come close but have become injured in their quest to win all three Triple Crown races in this short span of time. A horse that completes the Triple Crown would earn a $5 million bonus, as well as a future as a stud for which breeding fees would bring close to 100 million dollars to the owners. Thus there is great incentive to train horses for racing in their third year and beyond.
Inasmuch as horses are not fully grown until around the age of five, there is a great deal of risk associated with training and racing two and three year old horses. Specifically, a horse's bones and muscles are still growing and putting stress by training and running creates what the industry calls “breakdowns” which may end a horse's racing career. Thus, many horses are injured during the training process and never achieve their full potential in the racing industry.
Industry research has uncovered that almost seventy-five percent (75%) of injuries to horses in the racing industry occur to the left front leg. Since uncovering this data, we have been able to determine that the pressure imposed on the horse by the tree in the saddle impedes and restricts the horse's movement. See the attached photographs for examples of such trees and saddles employing such trees. This pressure is particularly acute on the horse's left shoulder and back. Such pressure typically impedes the horse from fully extending its stride. As a result, the horse makes shorter and slower strides and eventually may be reluctant, may refuse, or may be rendered unable to run.
In addition, in the United States, horses are typically trained, ridden and raced in a counter-clockwise direction which causes the horse to place most of its weight on the left side to keep its balance. When a rider sits atop a horse and the horse is ridden in a counter clockwise direction, the rider places most of his or her weight on the left side of the horse. With saddles utilizing trees, this weight shifting puts pressure on the tree and hence the shoulders and back on the left side of the horse. The tree digs into the horses shoulder and back which creates discomfort and sometimes shortens the length of stride thereby causing the movements to become slower.
Training riders typically weigh between 125-150 lbs but sometimes weigh up to 175 lbs or more. This weight combined with the heavier tree saddle creates pressure and stress on the horses back and shoulders. Additionally, horses running in a race often travel at top speeds of about 40 miles per hour. Traveling at such speeds necessitates the need for the rider to feel, and actually be, safe on the saddle.
While the rider's weight cannot be changed, the rider's weight may be redistributed on the horse's back and shoulders. Consequently displacing a rider's weight on the horses back and shoulders would help to alleviate the problems caused by the tree component of saddles.
Therefore, the need exists for a treeless saddle or similar device which alleviates the problems of existing saddles, and particularly, thoroughbred training saddles.